Last week, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad declared his victory in a sham election in the middle of a three-year-old bloody conflict that has devastated his country. Voting was held only in government-controlled areas, excluding huge areas of northern and eastern Syria that are under the control of Syrian fighters against the regime.The opposition and the West have denounced the election as a farce, of course. In three years, more than 160,000 people died and 2 million Syrians have fled the country to escape the violence while over 4 million Syrians were internally displaced. Inside the country, 6 million people need help. There were 22.5 million people in Syria before the conflict.Russia, Iran and North Korea were first to celebrate that mockery. What surprised many people interested in Turkey was that so many Turks including the majority of Gezi supporters were among the people who enjoyed Assad's victory. Their shrieks of joy on social media shocked many Gezi sympathizers outside Turkey.Trying to avoid being labeled in their circle as "pro-AK Party" (the ruling Justice and Development Party) or "pro-Erdoğan" but can't stand without saying something, Gezi sympathizers, mainly democrats, expressed their disappointments starting their sentences with "I am not a fan of Erdoğan or AK Party but..."That is a phrase which catches my eyes more often these days, and it reminds me of the phrase "Ak Partili değilim ama..." which means "I am not a supporter of the AK Party but..."The phrase was a popular one among the liberals and democrats of Turkey who are sick of nationalist ruling parties. The phrase says something to the effect of "supporting a party that doesn't turn a blind eye to Islamic values was a sin but they were giving the devil his dues since the AK Party was the one and only party taking steps forward on the issues of human rights, freedom and democracy for decades."The phrase in Turkish became old in time as secular Turkish citizens understand that the Ak Party is not a threat against seculars and that just because practicing Muslims' rights are restored doesn't mean that they will lose theirs. I suppose the one in English will come to an end alike but their sympathy with Gezi will be lost or turn into regret.Well, a clear majority of Gezi participants are pro-Assad and that is not breaking news for us. Gezi events were boasted as a movement of pluralism but no. Gezi was not a starting point and what happened before it seriously affected it. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, Turkey's main opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) has supported Assad. They visited him in his headquarters in Damascus, their members attended pro-Assad rallies chanting "With blood and soul, we sacrifice ourselves for you Bashar" last year. Not only them but also many Kemalist youth movements, labor unions, media organizations or the Turkish nationalists that supported Assad since day one, have formed the backbone of the Gezi events. The devil is in the details. If you look carefully, you could see pro-Assads everywhere in each and every anti-Erdoğan protest.In Turkey, being pro-Erdoğan means being anti-Assad and being pro-Assad means being anti-Erdoğan. Prime Minister Erdoğan said, "We are already in a war with Syria" during his post-election "balcony speech" on March 30. It's so true, the Syrian war is already inside Turkey and it is the biggest cause of confrontation.